What to watch for: USC

The final of UCLA's last matchup with USC seems to suggest that the game was close and well-fought. But for the Bruins, who fell asleep at the beginning of the game and didn't wake up until halftime, that wasn't exactly the case. In fact, they were lucky to have even dragged the game to overtime.

So there's little reason to doubt the Bruins' motivation this time around. But the Sunday matinee matchup will be a road game, technically, at the Galen Center. And UCLA hasn't exactly earned anyone's confidence in winning on the road in the past three weeks.

USC is certainly a better team than it was at the beginning of the season, when it inhabited the lowest rungs of the conference. But are the Trojans really good enough to sweep UCLA?

Here are three things to watch for in Sunday's game:

1. Can Shabazz Muhammad efficiently take over on offense?

The key word there is efficiently. Any box score would tell you that Muhammad has taken over the scoring load in the majority of UCLA's games this season. But there's a difference when Muhammad is trying his best to take over -- often resulting in bad shots and plenty of bad possessions -- and when he actually does take over. In the two teams' last matchup, Muhammad was noticeably sick with the flu and still scored 22 points -- albeit on 7 of 18 shooting. There's no reason to doubt his motivation, as his dad is a USC alum, and a competitive one at that. A healthy Shabazz could mean an even better Shabazz, and in a near must-win game like this, I wouldn't put scoring 25 to 30 out of the question.

2. Can Travis Wear bounce back?

Wear was playing some of the best basketball of his career before sustaining a concussion against Arizona. Against USC the last time around, he registered only his second double-digit scoring performance since the concussion, which may have thrown him off his groove for the past month or so. In his last game, Wear scored just two points and didn't make a single shot from the field. If he's going to be on the floor, he's going to need to start scoring again, and it's not out of the question to expect this game to be his best chance to snap out of his funk.

3. Will UCLA's simpler offense run more smoothly?

UCLA coach Ben Howland said earlier this week that the Bruins' offense excelled against Stanford because it was a great deal simpler -- down from 20 or so players to just nine. And that should again be the plan against USC. Wear said that fewer sets made things a lot easier on the players, and given the Bruins' lack of experience, it can't hurt to make things as fundamental as possible and let the talent on each side decide the game's outcome. UCLA is more talented and have shown flashes of being more athletic, and a simplified offense should allow them to show that on Sunday.

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